Everyone thinks he is Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, but unfortunately, after his passing away, there has been no other like him, said Ashish Chauhan, managing director and chief executive officer of the National Stock Exchange, in an interview with BTIndia on August 26.
Chauhan mentioned the brilliant and unmatched investing style of the market maestro, the late Rakesh Jhunjhunwala in the interview attended by 125 budding investors. Jhunjhunwala was an ace investor often referred to as India’s Warren Buffett. He was not only a trader but also a chartered accountant and film producer.
However, Chauhan believes that Jhunjhunwala’s unique investing expertise is rare. He advised the investors sitting in the audience to stay invested in the Indian markets if they expect them to grow. The market veteran highlighted how thinking and investing like Jhunjhunwala is a once-in-a-lifetime thing. This is why he advised investors to stay committed stating, “please try to stay long. Do not try to capture the lowest points to buy and sell at the peak”.
There is nobody, who is God, he said, while suggesting long-term trading only for new investors who do not know a lot about derivatives or intra-day trading or futures. Backing this view, a similar study had been released by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in January, stating that “9 out of 10 equity F&O traders lose money, out of which 84 percent are men and 75 percent of them or under 40.”
Chauhan says that expecting to become a billionaire from the market within a day is unreasonable. The rational expectation from the market is the creation of wealth without losing whatever one has. “If you do not have information, invest in mutual funds or go to portfolio managers, but do not rely on sketchy sources of information to trade,” said Chauhan.
The number of retail investors in the Indian market increased greatly during the Covid-19 lockdown period. Today, 200 crore transactions happen on the exchanges every second.